@ct_bergstrom

“Prophetic’s product relies on research being conducted by the Donders Institute, a brain research center in the Netherlands. From the institute’s studies, Prophetic will determine what specific areas of the brain need to be targeted and with what frequency of ultrasound waves to induce lucid dreams. The company expects to get this data in spring 2024 and to begin shipping devices in spring 2025.”

Umm, so the research needed to actually make this do what they claim it will do has not even been conducted. They just have an aspirational timeline of the company “getting this data” and everything magically unfolding as they hope.

@ct_bergstrom Humm.

On the other hand, when I've previously tried to bill the hours I'm sleeping and waking with the answers figured out they've refused.

Maybe I can finally bill for those naps?

@ct_bergstrom My 1st thought was of Havana Syndrome patients. I wonder what their thoughts are on a tool that does something like this into people's brains. Last I checked, scientists weren't all that certain repeated or long term exposure of ultrasound on organs in abdomens was safe. That it in fact, might be dangerous. But, let's voluntarily do it to our brains in targeted ways? Ay yi yi.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199630/

@ct_bergstrom a good start to give the matter a twist

Jonathan Crary

"24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16284965-24-7

@ct_bergstrom @cstross “engineers writing code in their sleep hashtag grindset” isn’t even a plausible dystopian sci-fi scenario.

More plausible would be: new startup promises to use your sleeping brain capacity for pattern-matching tasks, offering passive income in return. With falling real wages, people get hooked on it. Reports of info leaking are dismissed. Then the task load changes from, say, classifying fruit to moderating atrocity footage, causing an epidemic of psychological breakdown.

@ct_bergstrom

We are now some steps away from really becoming the ‘Ever Ready’ batteries of Matrix & AI becoming the SkyNet. Yes, it’s a long way now but it looks like we are taking some dangerous first steps down that road. Good luck future ‘Humans’.

@ct_bergstrom

I solve problems while asleep often enough to not be surprised. Unconscious, sub-conscious mind is still the mind.

@ct_bergstrom @PamW

So, if I oversleep in the morning, I would be collecting overtime pay as well?

@ct_bergstrom

"[...] Did you ever have a job that you hated? Worked really hard at? A long, hard day at work, finally you get to go home, get in bed, close your eyes, and immediately you wake up and realize that the whole day at work had been a dream? It's bad enough that you sell your waking life for ... for minimum wage, but now they get your dreams for free."

– Waking Life (movie by Richard Linklater)

@ct_bergstrom

I once met some people who were intentionally trying to do this to themselves. It should probably not surprise anyone that they were LessWrongers.